The Colt 45 "Peacemaker" is known as the "gun that won the west", and is is probably the most historically important handgun ever made. Colt makes and sells similar models to this day:
Posted on 08/17/2002 2:27:07 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:08:08 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
CONCESSION, Zimbabwe - Colin Shand is home alone now - and he sleeps with a revolver within reach.
His wife left for England; their daughter, who used to live nearby, fled to a rented house about 30 miles away. His only company are his playful dogs, one grouchy cat, and the family's 68-year-old cook.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
March 18, 2002 - Zimbabwe farmer found dead after 'attack'*** Harare - A white farmer was shot and killed near his homestead early on Monday, apparently while trying to escape an attack by settlers and war veterans, said a farm community spokesperson. Jenni Williams of the Commercial Farmers' Union said Terry Ford of Gowrie farm, about 40km southwest of Harare, was found shot through the head. He was the tenth white farmer to be killed since President Robert Mugabe's supporters began the seizure of white-owned commercial farms, two years ago.
Ripped to shreds - Zimbabwe's judicial system in tatters after years of government assaults***"Any judge who has been brave enough to take positions against government institutions has been harassed and intimidated into resigning," said Ashwin Trikamjee, a member of the International Bar Association's human rights institute. Now, on the rare occasions now when the courts rule against the government, it is usually in cases too obvious to have been decided any other way, many local lawyers said. The government has ignored those rulings anyway.***
December 2001 - Zimbabwe court rules seizing of white-owned land legal***HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's top court has declared the government's plan to seize white-owned farms legal, overturning its own previous ruling that the seizures were unconstitutional. In a judgment released Tuesday, four of the five Supreme Court justices appointed to hear the new seizure case said they were satisfied the government's "fast track" land nationalization program was lawful and "sufficiently complied" with the constitution. Last year's Supreme Court ruling declared the government's methods of land seizures illegal and in breach of constitutional ownership rights and government land laws. Some of the judges who made that ruling have been replaced in recent months. Four of the five judges hearing the new case, including Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, were appointed recently by President Robert Mugabe. Those four voted to uphold the government's land seizure program.***
January 2002 - New Laws Give President Mugabe Sweeping Powers (Election laws) Illegal to criticize Mugabe*** - Zimbabwe's Parliament Thursday passed two controversial bills, which critics say will give President Robert Mugabe sweeping powers to clampdown on the opposition ahead of the March presidential elections. Opposition legislators immediately described the passing of the bills as ''evil'' and even sought divine intervention when they held a loud prayer for Zimbabwe to be ''delivered from the hand of catastrophe''. But there was no divine help. Sitting as a majority, the ruling party legislators passed the Public Order and Security Bill (POSB) and the General Laws Amendment Bill. The Public Order and Security Bill replaces the colonial Law and Order Maintenance Act, a 1960s law made to repress black nationalists. Though designed to curtail acts of insurgency, banditry, sabotage and terrorism, Brian Raftopplous, a political analyst, says the bill is ''equally draconian as the one it seeks to replace.''
The bills were passed as Army generals Wednesday vowed that they will not recognize the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, should he win the March presidential elections. Tsvangirai Thursday described the statement as unfortunate and said the army had announced a ''de facto coup''.…. The army's statement came only a few days after all uniformed forces were awarded a 100-percent salary increment.
The Security bill makes it illegal to criticize President Mugabe who has ruled the southern African country for 21 years. The bill also bans public gatherings and demonstrations and gives the police excessive powers to arrest and detain perceived opponents. It also demands that citizens carry national identity cards on their person, a requirement strikingly similar to the colonial period. Changes to the Electoral Act under the General Laws Amendment Bill will result in millions of Zimbabweans living in neighboring countries being prevented from voting.
Next Tuesday, Parliament will convene to introduce a third bill pushing for tight controls on the media. Journalist unions say the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill is harsh piece of legislation which will curtail the freedom of the press. Britain's International Development Secretary, Clare Short, has described the current state of political affairs in Zimbabwe as ''a tragedy of enormous proportions''.***
Mugabe's famine - state-sponsored destruction of commercial agriculture***Meanwhile, Mr Mugabe denies eyewitness reports that his officials are using food aid as a political weapon, by denying food to people suspected of having voted for the opposition. "We shall feed all," he declared in his televised speech. "Even the stooges and puppets will have enough." Comforting words from a
February 2002 - South Africa: Land Restoration in 3 Years***Last week the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights said 36 354 land claims were projected to be settled in the three years to the end of March this year. Some 69 000 claims have been lodged with the commission. The commission, hamstrung by a shortage of funds, has been criticised by opposition parties and landless blacks for moving too slowly to restore land taken from them by the white-minority government under apartheid, raising fears of a Zimbabwe-style land grab. The commission has said it has streamlined its process to speed up land restoration and avert a similar situation to that in Zimbabwe where self-styled liberation war veterans have seized hundreds of white-owned farms.***
In the meantime, Shand sleeps with his Colt .45 by his bed.
So, which is it? It starts and ends with two different firearms...unless I'm not aware of a .45 revolver by Colt...
I hope he's got more than that. In the event of invasion upon his house, it would be best to engage at a couple hundred of yards aways.
The Colt 45 "Peacemaker" is known as the "gun that won the west", and is is probably the most historically important handgun ever made. Colt makes and sells similar models to this day:
Knowing in advance that starvation is coming/already setting in, the UN isn't doing sqwat. Either they're afraid to face Mugabe, or maybe Annan, a fellow black African doesn't want to, even though countless black Zimbabweans will suffer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.